I think you’re right about the first part, but not the “protected in society” part.
I think there are three camps:
Gender Dysphoric Types: There is probably a psychotherapy technique to address and correct this, without harm. However, there are de facto prohibitions against this, because all forms of this type of “counseling” are lumped together as “conversion therapy.” If it exists, it is not being studied or practiced, because Psychology Inc. he thinks he’s evil.
Autogynephiles: These are exclusively male paraphiliacs (super fetishists) who are sexually aroused when they perceive themselves as women. They also fetishize or glorify feminine things like menstruation, pads, and women’s personal care.
Fakers: These can be people who fake a trans identity for cynical or criminal reasons. They may be looking for status, or they may be looking to infiltrate institutions meant for women, be it prisons, sports teams, or anything else really.
This would be a three-bubble Venn diagram, because there is bound to be some overlap between the three categories. I strongly believe that groups 1 and 2 are the most common, but both groups 2 and 3 are messy and potentially dangerous. Which leaves group 1 in a really shitty situation, because they’ll probably be judged the same way group 2 or 3 might be judged. If people in group 1 had any sense, they’d throw away their devices and try to live in the simplest way. a life as possible. Places like this would have a terrible influence. We are forced to endlessly shit on people like that, when we all know it doesn’t help them.
(This is only really aimed at trans-ID men. I don’t really know enough to talk about trans-ID women)